


Tattoos and Teachers

by Baked_Apple_Pie



Series: One-Word Writing Prompts [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, Fluff, School Talent Shows, Tattooed Dean Winchester, Teacher Castiel, Young Parent Castiel, Young Parent Dean Winchester, my attempts at humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-14 20:14:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28801149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baked_Apple_Pie/pseuds/Baked_Apple_Pie
Summary: Sleeve: Tattoos that cover an entirety of skin; (EX: He had a sleeve of tattoos on his left arm26 year old US Marine Dean Winchester has never actually met his daughter Emma’s teacher, Mr. Novak, but he just knows that the man is probably a balding, creepy middle aged man with a sweater kink or something. How wrong can that be?(Very, very wrong)
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Series: One-Word Writing Prompts [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2110359
Comments: 32
Kudos: 157





	Tattoos and Teachers

**Author's Note:**

> Anonymous Prompt:  
> A tattooed!dean meets teacher!castiel

_ Sleeve: Tattoos that cover an entirety of skin; (EX: He had a sleeve of tattoos on his left arm _

You know, for a single father, Dean Winchester thinks he’s not half bad at parenting. Sure, there are tantrums here and there, the occasional argument and even more rarely, losing your temper and having to have your brother keep your daughter at his house as you try to calm down after a colossal panic attack, but hey, at least he’s got his health!

Well, not really. 

Dean hums Metallica as he bakes a pancake in a frying pan,  thinking about Emma’s big day tonight.

The Talent Show.

And to Dean, the bane of parenting. For two years in a row, he has begged his brother Sam and wife, Eileen, to attend instead of Dean. But this year when he approached them about doing it during a group dinner, they had laughed in his face.

“Seriously Dean, you’d think that a man who was a United States Marine for eight years wouldn’t be scared to go to a ten-year-olds talent show,” Sam had teased, making Eileen laugh. “You can go this year, it won’t kill you.”

“But—”

“Dean. You’re going.” Eileen Leahy-Winchester had told him this firmly, and Dean had shut his gob about the talent show. When Eileen tells you to do something, you do it.

Dean’s just a little bit intimidated by his brother's badass wife.

So here he is, making a gummy-bear pancake in a frying pan as he tries to apologize to his daughter about the disaster that will be the Talent Show before it even happens.

He finishes the pancake and wraps it in tinfoil, sticking it in the oven to keep it warm before shrugging on his coat and sliding into his car, a 1967 Chevy Impala, to pick Emma up from school.

He rounds into a parking spot at the school fifteen minutes later, getting out and leaning against the car as he waits for his daughter to emerge from the elementary school, trying his best to ignore the middle-aged women also here to pick up their children, all of which glaring at him nervously and whispering behind their hands.

See, this is why he hates the talent show, or anything school-related. Dean knows he’s not the best parent, what with his limited knowledge of cooking and his less than amazing ability to understand the homework, but having to sit around with a bunch of judgemental moms for two hours, when his daughter doesn’t mind if he’s there or not so long as someone video records it for him to see afterwards?

No, thank you.

Speaking of the other parents, one of the mothers, a woman with short brown hair and a large tote bag swung over her shoulder has approached him, clearing her throat obnoxiously as she taps on his arm. He turns over to look at her, raising an eyebrow.

“Can I help you?” The woman smiles boldly at him, not bothering to shake his extended hand.

“Hello! My name is Ruby, I’m one of the members of the PTA here. You’re Emma’s dad, right?” At his nod, she smiles and continues. “Great! Do you mind if I ask you a question?”

“Go ahead.”

“Right,” She clears her throat. “Do you really believe that having that… art on your arms is a good idea with such a good daughter? I mean, it might give her some not-so-wise… ideas.”

Dean frowns, looking down at his colorfully inked arms. “My tattoos?’ Ruby nods, pursing her lips as she examines them. “What’s wrong with them?”

“Nothing! It’s just that they are a bit… large. And boisterous. What if it gives her ideas?”

“What sort of ideas?” Deans starting to get defensive now, tensing his shoulders.

“Well, you know, to get her own.”

“What’s wrong with my daughter wanting a tattoo?”

“It’s just…” Ruby purses her lips, clearly trying to figure out how to phrase whatever it is she wants to say. “It is a bit frowned upon when women get… tattoos.” Dean sighs, rolling his eyes and going back to looking for Emma.

“I-I don’t mean that women can’t do certain things, of course!” Ruby hurries to correct herself. “They are clearly the superior gender!”

“Oh?”

“Yes! Don’t you think so?”

“I think that equal rights mean that there are no superior anything’s, and all humans are judged on who they are as people, not on gender or anything else.”

“Right, of course! That’s what I mean!”

“I see.”

“What I’m saying is that some of your tattoos are… questionable. As a proud member of— is that a T-Rex?” She interrupts herself, looking aghast. 

“Oh, yeah. His name is Dorito. Emma named him.”

“I—” Ruby looks aghast, and Dean sighs.

“Look lady, I see my kid now. It’s been… interesting.”

He walks quickly towards the school, pushing Ruby out of his mind as he grins brightly, laughing as Emma launches herself into his arms, skinny arms going to wrap tightly around his neck. “Daddy!”

Dean kisses her on the cheek, still smiling. “Hey, Pumpkin Pie. How was school, sweetheart?” Emma giggles, dropping out of his arms and kissing his forearm, where the T-Rex tattoo Ruby had been so appalled by sits before grabbing his hand.

“Hey, Dorito. And school was awesome! Look what Mr. Novak did!” Dean frowns, looking down to his daughter, who’s pointing to where her long blonde bangs had been braided into a sort of crown over her forehead, a style that Emma has been obsessed with, calling it fairy hair.

He had never been able to figure out how the hell to braid hair, and Eileen had thoroughly chewed him out when he had asked her to, since she had no clue either. Sam was, weirdly enough, the only one that actually had any clue at all how to braid, but every time Sam tried to help Emma with the assistance of Dean and Eileen it had ended in tears. (Emma had been pretty upset, as well).

But this time the braid had been articulacy done, neatly plaited and holding the rest of Emma's hair back in a sort of headband. Dean smiles.

“It looks good, sweetheart!” He tells her, and she beams.

“We were talking about braids in class and I brought up fairy hair, and Mr. Novak braided my hair to show everyone what I was talking about!”

“Hmm.” Dean purses his lips. He’s not really a big fan of Mr. Novak, the man being all his daughter ever talks about anymore. Don’t get him wrong, he’s thrilled that Emma has a teacher that she adores, but… hearing about the amazingness of Mr. Novak is getting old.

_ Daddy, today Mr. Novak was teaching us about old lore and mythologies! He really liked the angels, but I thought the Amazon’s were the coolest! Do you know any cool mythologies? I don’t think you do… _

_ Mr. Novak has a  _ **_lot_ ** _ of siblings! I wish I had that many siblings! He says it’s annoying, but I think it would be cool! _

_ Mr. Novak is the bestest, coolest, most amazing teacher ever! I love him so, so, much, and wish he was my Daddy! He’s so much cooler than you are! _

Okay, so that last part is a bit of a lie. But Emma might as well have said it! 

Honestly, Dean doesn’t see the appeal of Mr. Novak. He’s probably just a balding, weird guy in his thirties with a cat obsession. Keyword being probably, since he’s never met him before. 

He hadn’t been able to meet Mr. Novak at the beginning of the year for parent-teacher conferences, due to a family emergency and having to drive down to Kansas, but he was almost certain that the man is just as he pictures him.

“Oh! He wrote you a note!” He’s jolted back to the present by Emma, who’s waving an envelope at him.  _ Huh. _

“Sounds good, honey. Now, how about we get some cheeseburger-fuel for the talent show tonight?”

“Yessss!!”

.oOo.

Dean sighs, groaning as his back pops as he plops down on the couch, Emma in her room getting on her costume for the show. He pulls the envelope Mr. Novak had written him out of his pocket, unfolding it and skimming over the impeccable penmanship.

_ Dear Mr. Winchester, _

_ Hello! I am sure you noticed Emma’s hair today, she had really wanted fairy hair and seems upset that you were unable to do it. I apologize if I overstepped. _

_ On the topic of Emma, tonight is the talent show and I am sure you know all about it. I am aware that you will be attending and as such hope to meet you there! _

_ I understand the difficulties of being a younger single parent (Emma told me) and I just wanted to let you know that I understand and am always here to talk, only if you want. _

_ I look forward to seeing you tonight, _

_ C. Novak _

Dean rolls his eyes, crumpling the note up and stuffing it back into his pocket. Great, Mr. Novak is one of those teachers who is always sure that they can help, no matter the fact that the man is probably some lonely dude with a glitter obsession or some shit and just generally failing at life.

He stands up though and goes to his room, determined to make an appearance.

After all, if he’s going to appear as a 26-year-old US Marine with a ten-year-old daughter and a bunch of tattoos, he might as well make an impression.

.oOo.

The auditorium is packed, kids screaming and parents yelling, everyone trying to find a seat. Dean wades through the crowd, eventually giving up and going to stand in the back of the auditorium. Emma is already behind the stage, being herded off with the other kids at the beginning of the night.

He picks at the waistband of his pants, starting to regret his clothing choices. With tight black jeans that he knows sculpt his ass (Eileen wouldn’t lie, would she?) and an even tighter short sleeved black shirt that makes every single one of his tattoos pop out, people are staring.

Also, he’s starting to get a wedgie, despite the lack of underwear.

Most of the other parents avoid him, leaving him to a quite nice bubble that is undisturbed except for the occasional glare or judgmental comment (believe it or not, he gets those a lot).

So he’s just a little bit surprised when a man pretty much comes barreling into him, papers from the others clipboard flying everywhere. Dean’s arms shoot out, catching him by the waist as both of them stumble to the floor, the man rambling out apologies.

“I am  _ so  _ sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going, I was mostly just trying to—”

“It’s fine, it’s fine, here, let me get these for you, are you—”

Both of the men abruptly cut off their sentences, however, staring at each other. Dean gapes at the man in front of him, eyes sweeping up and down appreciatively. The other man, who seems to have the same reaction, licks his lips and smiles, holding out a hand.

“I’m guessing you’re Mr. Winchester? Emma provided a very… detailed description of Dorito.” Dean blinks.

“I— what? Wait…” He pauses, looking over the man once again before staring at him in shock. “Mr. Novak?!” The man laughs, shaking Dean’s hand firmly as he gathers up his papers.  _ This is Mr. Novak?! _

Whenever Emma had talked about Mr. Novak Dean had imagined a balding, creepy middle-aged man with a thing for turtlenecks, not… this. Not an athletically built, scruffy, dark-haired man with an amazing smile that can’t be more than 25.

“Pleased to meet you, I have heard a lot about you.” Dean stares at him, awed, accepting his hand, Mr. Novak pulling him to his feet. “You can call me Castiel, by the way.” Dean blinks again.

“I… uh, good to meet you too. Emma’s told me a bunch about you, as well.” Castiel raises an eyebrow, smiling that brilliant smile yet again. 

“Good things, I hope?” He teases. “I am glad to finally get to meet you, you, uh… definitely live up to the complaints that I have been getting from Ruby,” Dean raises his eyebrows.

“Complaints?” Castiel rolls his eyes at that, sighing.

“That Ruby lady is going to kill me one day, I swear. Personally, I find you very… magnetic.” He bites his lip at that, and Dean feels himself turn bright red.

“Uh… thanks? Not everyone thinks so, so I’m not exactly sure what to say…?” Castiel laughs again.

“Me as well. Being a single parent as well as trying to live off of being a fourth-grade teacher isn’t exactly easy.” Dean is surprised to find himself laughing.

“I know what you mean, though the money thing isn’t much of a problem. I’m working at a friend's mechanic shop right now, he seems concerned about that enough to pretty much throw bonus checks at me. If you ever need help…?”

Part of him feels bad about changing his entire perspective of this Mr. Novak off of looks alone, but the other part doesn’t care, seeing as Emma is definitely right. Mr. Novak is kind of the bestest, coolest, most amazing teacher ever.

Castiel widens his eyes at the offer of money, quickly shaking his head. “Oh no, I couldn’t ever ask that.” Dean nods in understanding, then frowns as his mind catches up with him.

“Did you say you’re a single parent?”

“Oh, yeah. Her name’s Claire, she’s six, just started first grade.”

“Hmm.” Dean once again sweeps over Cas, blushing slightly. He looks back up into the teacher's face seeing the other man staring as well, also blushing. “Um, maybe they could have a playdate? Get to know each other?” That wasn’t the question he had wanted to ask, but Emma came first. Castiel seems to understand what he’s getting at anyway and nods, blue eyes twinkling. 

“That sounds fun. For now, though, I have a couple of seats in the front of the auditorium, mind accompanying me?” Dean blinks in shock for a second before nodding quickly.

“I’d love to,” He murmurs softly, turning scarlet and quickly following Castiel down the aisle to the seats, quickly sitting down next to him. Castiel smiles at him and he finds himself smiling back.

“I’m glad to finally meet you, Dean,” Castiel tells him honestly and Dean's smile widens so much it almost hurts.

“Me too, Castiel.”

“Call me Cas.”

“Well, then I’m glad to finally get to meet you too, Cas.”

**Author's Note:**

> Should this become a separate series? I think this should be a separate series.
> 
> Let me know what you think in the comments!


End file.
